3yr. old starting to dig again

[AKA "The Baby"]

Casey, my 3yr. old female Rottie is starting to dig again. We adopted her when she was about a year old and at that time she was digging alot! After a few months I finally got her to stop by putting her poop in the holes that she was digging. Well last month Casey decided to start digging again, I have buried her poop in the holes and it has not helped so far. Does anyone know what's going on? Why would she start digging again all of a sudden?

[Vivianne]

I saw the same issue addressed on the animal planet this weekend. It seems a lady with a rotty/mastiff mix had the same problem. It was mentioned that the dog was digging because he was bored. Don’t know if this is the case with your dog, but they recommended toys that store treats to keep them stimulated as part of the digging outside solution.

The next part of the solution was to fill in the holes and bury chicken wire just a few inches from the surface. It seems that when the dog reaches the wire mesh it dislikes the feel and noise of its nails on the mesh and stops digging. The mesh allows the grass to grow back through the holes. Pretty nifty I think.

The next and final part of the solution for digging was to actually create a sand box somewhere in your yard were the dog IS allowed to dig. The trick is to watch your dog carefully when they are outside. If you see them start digging anywhere else in the yard. Stop him/her, correct them and take them to the place where it is okay to dig. Even drop a few treats at first to get them to go in the sand box. Praise for digging in the sand box only.

Good luck, I have a future digger myself.

[pride-and-joy]

Yep. Digging is very self rewarding. And they are soooo dilligent about their excavation work and proud of themselves aren't they? If some people could only have such work ethics;)

If you're not catching her doing it, don't give her any scolding, "What did you do????" speeches later. Consider it too late. Your best bet is to re-fill the holes, barricade, booby trap, and/or watch like a Hawk.

My rescue girl is also quite the back hoe. She decided it was her job to remove a piece of French drain flex tube that was buried under the deck. She was able to get under the deck because a piece of the lattice was down. I nailed the lattice back up and she abandoned that project immediately.

I have to be watchful when they are in the back yard. I don't leave them out there too long unsupervised because boredom = doggie initiated entertainment choices

[Teena]

My dogs have a sandbox. My lab is the digger, man does she make the sand FLY! It's funny to watch them playing in it. No more unwanted holes alll over my back yard either. :)